England Premier League
Saturday 4th December 2021
Kick off at 5:30pm GMT
Venue: Vicarage Road
Match Preview:
Watford are playing more positively and the football has been more enjoyable under Claudio Ranieri but will that be enough to keep the Hornets up? Despite competing more in games Watford are, on the whole, still losing games and they have lost four from their last five.
It is odd because when they have beaten teams recently it has been 5 goals past Everton and 4 past Manchester United. However with respect one can note those results down to amazing match days that the fans will long remember but hardly a yardstick for how good this team is. In midweek they did run Chelsea close but the league leaders edged out the game winning 2-1 in the end. Watford are in 17th position but for now have a 3 point safety cushion.
Manchester City mean business and since their surprise loss against Crystal Palace have won 4 games in a row, and five in all competitions. In midweek City dealt a first loss for Steven Gerrard as they beat Aston Villa 2-1. City would go top of the league if they win this and Chelsea drop points, but lose or even draw this game and they could finish the weekend in 3rd place, such is how close it is between the top 3 clubs.
Team News:
Watford: The club have been unlucky in injuries in that there are no short term ones and Kwadwo Baah, Peter Etebo, Ben Foster, Ismailia Sarr, Adam Masina and Nicolas N’Koulou are all out long term and not due back until after the new year.
Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne is back from illness but was having some fitness issues and missed the last game vs Aston Villa however he is in contention for this one and will be assessed. Ilkay Gundogan has a knock that could rule him out of this game and he will face a test. John Stones has the same problem as does Kyle Walker. Ferran Torres is out for at least another month with a foot injury.
Watford vs Man City Head to Head:
Manchester City have won the last 13 meetings between the clubs.
The clubs have only played each other 31 times in their history with Manchester City winning 20 of those games.
Manchester City have scored 18 goals past Watford in just the last 3 meetings.
Watford vs Man City Prediction:
Sometimes we may not like the prices but there is a genuine reason Manchester City are basically unbackable with their odds on price here, simply put Watford do not like playing them and usually get thumped and we can see that happening again at the weekend.
Watford will have to play deep and try and frustrate their opponents as they hope for a draw. We should forget that Watford made light work of City’s local rivals Manchester United because City have already been there and done that too. We don’t expect to see surprises and for the home side their injury list is creeping up on them too.
City should have even more key players coming back but their normal bench would probably win this game too and we don’t see much hope here for the Hornets who should be overcome and swatted without too much fuss, however they do seem to represent a real goal threat so we will back both teams to score.
Watford vs Man City Betting Tips:
Both teams to score (Yes) at 2.00
Anytime goalscorer: Raheem Sterling at 2.20
Anytime goalscorer: Phil Foden at 2.10
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